How to Lose a Candidate in 10 Days

How to Lose a Candidate in 10 Days Have you ever wondered what it is that annoys candidates the most about dealing with recruiters? There are a number of things you can do to test a candidates patience think  Kate Hudson crazy in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days. Over the 10 days make sure you introduce them to your split personality, turning commitment levels from 0 to 100 intermittently, depending on their application status. To really  get under a candidates skin, all you have to do is follow this 10-day plan. (Candidates, maybe you can also relate.) Day  1:  Call a candidate with no agenda Maybe youre new to recruitment or simply low on your call times. Try calling a candidate with no agenda, get them to step outside their office for at least five minutes while you watch the seconds tick away and ask them about salary requirements, their previous managers, applications and any other fishing you can do! When the candidate asks about the opportunity you have in mind bluntly tell them that you dont have one, just keen to find out in case something comes up. Once youre done, if you really want to test the candidate you can transfer them to your colleague  who you sit next to in the office (and repeat process). Day  2: Keep them guessing When the candidate calls in to check whether the advert is describing a company which theyve already applied to, enter into a Mexican stand off with them and firmly tell them that they can only know the company name if they tell you the company name by process of elimination. If they dont want to agree to this then assure them that the only way for them to find out is for you to submit their application and let them know if it comes back as a duplication. Day  3: Go hot and cold like theres no tomorrow Make sure you  alter the amount of contact and pressure you put on the candidate based on whether it is you or the candidate who is required to complete a task. When you first realise that they could be a good fit for an open role make them feel like the world could end if they dont leave work to go to a library and email over their CV within the hour. As soon as you have their CV you can take your foot off the pedal and if they chase feedback make them feel as if  theyre being clingy, assure them that you have other important things to do and will get back when/if you get feedback! Day  4: When they call in, get your colleague to say  that youre in a meeting Still not got that feedback from the client? You basically asked the candidate to book days off from work the following week, assuring them that you would get them an interview slot. You assured them that, as its an urgent role you needed the commitment for interview and that youd sort the rest. Its the Friday afternoon and you told the candidate to book off the following Tuesday theyre calling in and as your colleague calls out the candidates name it reminds you that you havent chased up the client (Oops!). Swerve that call, having your colleague tell them that youre in a meeting is usually believable. Day  5: Tell the candidate a different salary Youve had a look at the candidates CV and you dont think the client will pay above a certain salary for the candidates experience, beat them down on their salary requirement which is lower than they are  looking for. Assure them that this is the absolute maximum for the client. Get off the phone to the candidate and immediately send out a blanket email to candidates on the database advertising the role above the discussed salary. Day  6: Dont call me, Ill call you They sent you their CV to you months ago but there wasnt anything open at the time which led to a number of ditched calls and lost emails. Now that theres a live job, by lunchtime youve managed to call them, their partner and their company to let them know! Day  7: Presentation prep, what presentation? As they call in after  their interview to tell you how it went, act surprised when they tell you that they werent aware that they were supposed to be doing a presentation, or maybe they were late as they went to the wrong company building (oops!). Plead ignorance, if they question too intensely about this tell them that you have another call and youll have to pop them a call back when youre free. Day  8: Oversell the job Tell the candidate that, whilst it may not be the salary or even close to the type of job they told you they are looking for,  definitely emphasise they will be working on cutting edge, world leading stuff that definitely matches their profile. Vouch for the office  location (even though youve not been there yet the manager told you its nice, though). Short contract? Tell them theres a 99% chance the company will keep them on even if you have no clue! Let the candidate take the day off work and sit back as they experience the disappointment for themselves! Day  9: Book that much needed spa day on the day of the candidates interview Youve had a difficult week, treat yourself and book in a nice RR day for the day of the candidates interview. In your excitement forget to mention this to the candidate so if they call in flustered about directions 5 minutes before the interview it will take at least 5 minutes for them to track down a colleague who is of any use! Day  10: They didnt get the job? No need to get in contact then No one likes to be the bearer of bad news, Im sure the candidate will forget about it if you just dont get back to them anyway. If they chase it up you can always dodge the call and send them a template email saying that you tried to call to give feedback but couldnt get through, just a one liner saying they were unsuccessful will be fine! Guilty of the above? Hey, no ones perfect but dont expect a Christmas card from said candidate/s next year!